Mackenzie Siddall walked onto UBC’s softball team in her first year. Now she pitches and plays outfield for the team while studying kinesiology and helping to coach kids — and she does it all with one hand.

UBC alumna Mina Shum self-financed her BA in theatre and film production on her second try and has gone onto win several awards for her short films, which focus on diversifying the casts — often working in two or three languages and exploring non-traditional medias.

Neema Bickersteth is a powerful, creative graduate from UBC's opera program. She co-created and performed in the 2016 PuSh Festival, telling the story of the black woman in Canada. Although she has no formal dance training, her performance was extremely physical — painful, but beautiful.

Veronica Knott, one of our student representatives on the Board of Governors, was one of the loudest voices opposing the international tuition increases. Now re-elected to BoG for a second term, Knott aims to continue to speak up on behalf of students with a confidence and drive shaped by growing up in a world that taught her the importance of being brave.

Adit “Elizabeth” Abit was shot by bandits during her last year of high school in Kenya and still completed her exams on time and secured a scholarship to study at UBC. Inspired by her studies, she founded an organization — South Sudanese International Youth Ambassadors — made up of young people based in South Sudan and Kenya working to empower and improve their communities.

Women face a lot of barriers when it comes to entering sciences, especially disciplines like engineering that grew out of what society describes as masculine pursuits. They've systemically, socially and historically been inundated with messages that “this isn't for you.” But by 2020, the percentage of women to men in engineering at UBC will be even. It's not easy going up against how society defines you, but these women are ready for the job.